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Friday, August 5, 2011

Mister Close

From the geniuses behind Arcadia in Fitzroy, there is now Mister Close in the city for us city-working folk. Mister Close has a surprisingly sophisticated cafe atmosphere for where it's located; in the middle of the Target Centre opposite a Starbucks with noisy, and decidedly un-laneway-like Swanston St outside. It serves both dine in and take-away customers, with the front counter filled with a variety of salads, sandwiches and baked goods.

Berry and Coconut Slice

Lemon Syrup Cake

Sandwiches

Tempting right? Their coffee (from Campos) is also amazing, though I passed on it this time around. Settling down for breakfast inside, my eye was caught by their unique interior decoration.

Mister Close

A map of the world deconstructed and rearranged to look like a map of an island. It makes no sense when you examine it closely with words aligned in every direction, but it's a very creative piece of artwork. We were there of course for the food, not the artwork. Deciding to experiment a bit with their menu, I asked for their poached eggs, but with gluten-free toast instead.

Poached Eggs with Gluten Free Toast

First off, I'm not sure where the little splashes of pesto came from as there wasn't any in the actual dish, and the spots were too small to add any actual flavour. The gluten free bread was nutty, and quite moreish but filling. I was however disappointed at the eggs. One expects poached eggs to be slightly gooey on the inside, so that it oozes out onto the plate such that the diner can then unabashedly wipe up any leakages with the bread. These eggs were barely runny, being almost 'well-done' (not quite the right term, but you understand)! I'd expected more from a cafe such as this. No matter though, maybe they get it right for every other order except for mine.

My companion on the other hand went with a Hunger Breaker.

Hunger Breaker

Tasty! Shall we have a closer look?

Hunger Breaker (Innards)

Warm bread with egg, tomato, bacon, cheese and spinach. You can't really ask for more. Perhaps I should have ordered that. So apart from the disappointment of the eggs, I do like the cafe. Maybe not enough to make it a regular haunt for breakfast, but if I'm in the mood for coffee and can't be bothered walking up to Manchester Press, this might become a suitable pit stop.